This photograph was taken at a cave where Swami Kriyananda once spent a month in seclusion. “Next door” (next cave) is Vasishta Guha, spiritually deep and powerful, and flowing past it is the Ganges.

Vasishta Guha has a great story behind it. For countless years, it’s said, holy people have stayed in the cave, meditating there and making it holy. It was made well known by Swami Purushottamananda, who lived there for 30 years in the mid-1900s.

As it is now, the cave is not very deep; perhaps forty or fifty feet. At that point it is walled off. I’ve read, though, that it extends a full twelve-and-a-half miles (twenty kilometers) past this point!

As the story goes, Swami Purushottamananda walled off the vast majority of the cave to stop people from disturbing the siddhas (realized or perfected souls) who were, and perhaps still are, sitting back there in their astral (energy-based) bodies, meditating.

Is this true? I certainly can’t say for sure. However: this cave is the one place I would make sure to go if I ever returned to Rishikesh. It was intense.

It’s interesting: these places would be impossible to enjoy in a really meaningful way without a spiritual practice. Can you imagine going to see holy places just to look at them? “Oh look. A cave. It’s dark.”

But when you can feel the vibrations, a cave can become a fountain of peace. In fact, the memories that live most strongly with me from this trip are of meditations, most especially that one at Vasishta Guha.

I mentioned earlier that I spent less than usual time meditating on this trip. That was definitely a loss! But: it clarified for me the difference that long-enough meditations make: they are essential. Since my return to America, I’ve made the commitment to add a half-hour onto my daily meditation practice.

Consider that when we meditate we are bathing in a river of inner light. Whether we actually see light or not, it helps very much to remain in the uplifted state of meditation – what Lahiri Mahasaya called the calm “after-effect poise” – for as long as possible. Otherwise the “dirt” of our lower nature may only loosen instead of being washed away; when we get up, it will dry and be stuck to us as ever before.

Best, though, is to enjoy meditation. It’s possible to overdo it, and I don’t suppose that dry meditations, of any length, clean our consciousness as well as those where we experience joy or devotion.

Two years ago, in Spring 2005, after the Mahasamadhi celebration in India, I journeyed to Rishikesh with Sraddha (my spouse) where we visited the Kriya Yoga Ashram of Swami Shankarananda. She had been there the previous Fall with a US pilgrimage and discovered these incredible life size marble statues of our line of Gurus.

Later that spring, Sraddha and Durga and Vidura Smallen (who then lived at Ananda Village and now live at Ananda India) traveled South with Swami Shankarananda, from Delhi to Jaipur, where they met with the artist who had carved the original statues. As a result, we commissioned the artist to carve a set of statues for Ananda Village. We wanted two sizes: life size and about 24 inches tall.

Since we already have life size statues here of Babaji and Lahiri from other sources, they agreed to carve life size statues of Sri Yukteswar and Paramhansa Yogananda as well as 24 inch statues of Babaji, Lahiri, Sri Yukteswar and Paramhansa Yogananda.

These statues are being carved from pure white marble and will reside in the new temple being planned as well as other smaller mandirs (temples) here at Ananda Village. We already have a beautiful mandir devoted to Lahiri Mahasaya and a garden mandir with a statue of Babaji at the Crystal Hermitage.

More in future installments.

“There’s no substitute for a strong daily meditation practice.”

–Ananda Minister Haridas Blake, during lunch today

In celebration of making a commitment to deepen my own meditations, I want to share something to help people get started with a solid daily sadhana (spiritual practice).

To learn meditation, check out this simple, yet deep, beginning meditation technique (www.ananda.org).

I started meditating daily nearly four years ago, and in that time I have grown more spiritually than I would have in forty years of not meditating. It’s that profound.

Here are some tips that I’ve found helpful:

1. Meditate at the same time every day. This will help build a habit, and eventually you will feel yourself wanting to meditate at those times.
2. In connection with the above, meditate in the same place every day. Put a screen around where you meditate, or if possible set aside a room for that purpose. All these things will help build peaceful vibrations that will make meditation easier and more enjoyable.
3. Make friends with people who have been meditating for a long time. Ask if you can meditate with them! These things will help to deepen your practice and make it more regular. When you have someone else to meditate, you will be much less likely to flake out!
4. There’s a general rule about meditation: the more you meditate, the more you will want to meditate. Try a longer meditation each week. But never meditate to the point of strain or boredom. It should be enjoyable.
5. Most importantly, never give up. If you miss a day, just say, “I haven’t yet succeeded.” As long as you keep energy going in the right direction, you can make it.

With even a little bit of meditation, every day, your life will slowly start to change. There is nothing like meditation. There is nothing so enjoyable. It is certainly one of life’s best kept secrets.

Like Dave, I’ve enjoyed and felt blessed by my time here in India. One of the things that struck me immediately was how natural it felt to be here.

This pattern repeated itself several times in the first couple of days:

1. I see someone (an Indian) while I’m walking down the street. They are probably staring at me; no smile or anything friendly.
2. I smile and raise my hands in namaskar – a gesture like the traditional prayer gesture, with the palms held together. It means, “That which is Divine in me honors that which is Divine in you.”
3. They break into an incredibly sweet smile and make the same gesture in return. The whole encounter is silent and has a sense of inward communion.

The Indians here have a natural sincerity and kindness that is inspiring. It’s a different kind of kindness than we might tend to practice in America – one centered more in being and less in doing.

For example, think of the kindness that we practice by listening to someone with real attention and interest. This can be more meaningful to someone than giving them a present. I find this more often here, along with a clearer understanding that “people are more important than things.” It may be a change in my own consciousness or a cultural difference; I’m not sure which.

Recent Meditations

Amusingly, perhaps especially so after my earlier post about joyful meditations, it has sometimes been difficult to meet even the minimum time requirements I set for my daily meditations [Addition: Though I always managed to do so]! A little counter-productive, right? To come to India on a pilgrimage and then not take enough time to go on the true pilgrimage: the journey within, towards God. Nothing to do now, I guess, but do better tomorrow (or tonight)!

Swami Kriyananda’s Talks

I want to write more about my time here, later, especially about a trip to the holy town of Rishikesh. Also, the twin weekends of events, with appearances by Swami Kriyananda, were very good. That Swami was able to speak at all is remarkable considering the recent difficulties with his health. The day before one of his talks I heard that he was having trouble even putting a full sentence together.

Yet he did come to deliver two talks that first weekend – and good talks, too! He mentions some health challenges in one of them, but as a friend said, you wouldn’t know it for being in the audience! He seemed really fine. So this was something that I found inspiring about the whole two weekends of programs. I think most people would have given up long ago, but Swami just keeps going, for God and Guru, with great willpower and grace.

All of the talks by Swami Kriyananda and others, from both weekends, are available online. I definitely recommend them!

We have just finished the first Ananda International Kriyaban Retreat here in Gurgaon, India - three days dedicated to deepening the practice of Kriya Yoga. The retreat culminated with an extraordinary talk by Swami Kriyananda on The Role of Kriya Yoga in the World.

The entire three days was one continuous highlight of long and deep meditations, classes on Kriya Yoga, kirtan (devotional chanting), personal sharing, and two Kriya initiation ceremonies.

There were over 200 Kriya Yogis attending from all over the world, along with twelve Kriyacharyas (Kriya Yoga teachers) from Ananda communities in America, India, and Europe.

You can hear all of the discourses on the Ananda website, including the morning talks given by different Ananda kriya teachers: myself, Kirtani Stickney (spiritual director of Ananda Assisi), Yogacharya Dharmadas (spiritual director of Ananda India), and Jyotish and Devi Novak (spiritual directors of Ananda worldwide).

All of the talks were inspiring and insightful - each speaker discussed different aspects of the two main topics: Kriya Yoga: Ancient Science for Modern Times and Kriya Yoga in Your Life.

Kechari Mudra

One part of the retreat that I personally enjoyed was giving a class on Kechari Mudra, a difficult yoga technique that Paramhansa Yogananda taught as part of Kriya Yoga practice. Indians seem especially receptive to learning Kechari Mudra, and also seem able to practice it more easily.

Interestingly, several of our American kriya yogis have been able to learn kechari mudra shortly after moving to India.

My own enthusiasm for teaching Kechari stems from seeing how much it helps deepen my meditation and kriya practice. Yogananda privately urged some of his disciples to practice Kechari, and publicly referred to it in various writings and lectures. Ananda sells a wonderful guide to learning this ancient practice.

Kriya Yoga Initiations

On Saturday evening we held two Kriya initiations - one teaching the first Kriya technique, and the other teaching one of the Higher Kriya initiations taught by Yogananda. According to Yogananda, “Kriya is the greatest technique for salvation.” I can honestly say that I’ve seen the proof of that statement many times - but it was never more obvious than this weekend.

Swami Kriyananda’s Closing Talk

This talk which ended the retreat is perhaps the best talk I’ve ever heard on Kriya Yoga. I urge you to listen to it. I’ll just share a few highlights here.

Swamiji spoke about the soul’s journey back to God, and the universal nature of that journey. He said that “The scriptures are the exit signs. Kriya Yoga is that which helps you get through that exit.”

He also spoke of Kriya Yoga as working with realities that are universal to all people, and that “Kriya Yoga helps you to simply take advantage of realities with which you live all the time.”

Kriya Yoga has been a central part of religious traditions throughout history. Christ taught Kriya Yoga to his disciples, according to Yogananda. When Swamiji was in India in 1961, an Indian scholar named Dinanath Pundit told him of some interesting research he had done into ancient Christian traditions.

One technique taught in the Hesychast Christian tradition involves the repetition of the ‘Jesus Prayer’: “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me.” Dinanath Pundit discovered that it was sometimes taught in conjunction with the breath, and with bringing a cool current up the spine during the inhalation, and a warm current down the spine during the exhalation.

Any Kriya Yogi would see the interesting parallel to the Kriya Yoga of Mahavatar Babaji and the Yogananda lineage.

Swamiji also described a tradition in Spain regarding Christ’s last moments on the cross. It says that Christ’s last breath included a specific motion of the head that is exactly the same as one of the higher kriya techniques taught by Lahiri Mahasaya. The advanced Kriya Yogi uses the technique to consciously leave the body at death.

Swamiji concluded by saying, “Remember, you have a portable temple, and that is your own body. Kriya Yoga helps us to understand that wherever we go we’re on pilgrimage, because we carry that temple with us.”

Whether you are a long-time Kriya Yogi, or someone who is just interested in the Path of Kriya, I urge you to listen to the entire talk.

One of my favorite pastimes living in this rural community is to be able to go for bicycle rides that could easily be labeled as world-class. If you have visited Ananda Village you know what kind of natural beauty it is surrounded with. Sierra Foothills create some beautiful rolling hills and therefore beautiful (and hilly) roads for cycling.
I must add that, the beauty of these rides would not be complete without being able to ride with my gurubais (J.T. and Bob). This way even an ordinary bike ride transforms into a satsang on bicycles.

This year we decided to challenge and entertain ourselves by signing up for a couple of centuries (two for me, more for J.T. and Bob). I am looking forward to having more satsangs during these challenging rides as well as during our training rides. I will share with you on how we faired on the centuries.

If you are in the area and would like to join us for any length of ride, feel free to drop me an email.

This weekend is the annual Ananda retreat in honor of Paramhansa Yogananda’s Mahasamadhi, here in Gurgaon, India. It’s such a joy to practice meditation and Kriya Yoga with people from all over the world: India, America, South Africa, and nearly every European country. Seeing the harmony and love between the people here shows how easy it would be to achieve world peace if everyone meditated together!

This morning, Swami Kriyananda gave a deeply inspiring talk, beginning with a discussion of Sanatan Dharma, which he described as the truth underlying the entire universe. He continued by reading excerpts from his new book, The Revelations of Christ, which explains the true teachings of Christ – Sanatan Dharma – as opposed to the ‘religious’ teachings of Christian churches over the centuries.

His talk is now on the Ananda website, along with other talks and classes given during the retreat.

It’s especially inspiring for me to see the attitude that Indians have toward great teachers. Recently, Swami Kriyananda has been experiencing some health problems. It was questionable whether he would even be able to give the talk today.

At breakfast this morning with some Indian guests, I commented about the possibility that Swamiji, as we call him, might not be well enough to speak. One young Indian man remarked that as he was eating his breakfast, he was giving all of his strength and nourishment to Swamiji. I could see that this was a natural attitude held by many people here.

In the afternoon, there were workshops by Ananda teachers from all over the world on art, astrology, healing, and education.

The evening featured the first-ever performance in India of Swamiji’s play, The Jewel in the Lotus. The setting of the play is a village in the Indian Himalayas. The themes are various aspects of the spiritual search universal to all seekers.

The actors performed it superbly, with great joy and deep feeling. Afterward, Swamiji remarked that it was the best performance of the play he had ever seen. The audience was captivated throughout.

One of the themes of the play seemed especially appropriate to modern India. It concerns the story of Romesh, a successful businessman who wants his son Narayan to join the family business. Narayan wants to dedicate his life to God. In the end, after much drama, Romesh blesses his son to go and seek God.

In my week here, I’ve already seen a couple of cases of young Indian men who are part of Ananda India, and whose parents are still against their child’s search for God. It is certainly a universal theme, but one that seems more common in the up and coming Indian economy.